Our little Monkey...

Who knew that a toddler could be into so many things? Chrissy and I feel as if Ella is always into something. Last week, she finally accomplished the task of learning to open the pantry door.... now she thinks she can have a gummy Dora the Explorer snack all the time....

Yesterday...while I was not looking... she decided to stand on top of the basket in the living room and jump on top of me and Hudson..... not only that but Hudson has become Ella's new riding horse.... we have now caught her on 15 different occasions sitting on top of Hudson! She is saying "Getty Up Horsey"! So I ask the question... "What in the world are we going to do?"

We for sure have a little monkey on our hands....

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Mondays with Mommy

On Mondays, while Ella is @ school and I am at work, Hudson and Chrissy have a day together. One of their favorite places to go is to the YMCA in Trussville. Chrissy can take fitness classes or walk the track with Hudson. Hudson and Ella love the YMCA. Not only is the facility great but the people there are extremely nice.

On this specific day, Hudson also took his mom on a date to Iz2 cafe.

Hudson loves his mommy!

Early Mornings with Hudson

Ella is our sleeping child... she goes to bed @ 7 each night and wakes @ 7-7:30 each morning. Hudson on the other hand is our awake child.... sleeping does not seem as important to him. Hudson fights sleep... naps are a forced subject with our little boy. Each morning Hudson awakes around 5 then falls back asleep awaking again @ 6. Last week he learned to turn himself over.... this morning... for the first time... we found Hudson in his crib on his belly. The look on his face was as if he was having the time of his life... kicking and doing his fake swimming routine.
Hudson is happy as can be.... even if it is 6 in the morning.
Breakfast is normally a joyful time... this morning... I don't think he was so excited about his cereal mixed with prunes.
Like his sister.. Hudson has the facial expression gene.... He is learning from the best actress Ella... or maybe I should say Chrissy.... I will let you decide :)

This morning.....

This morning Ella and I arrived to drop her off @ preschool. After getting out of the car, Ella decided that she didn't want to go to preschool. So what does she decide to do? Cling to the brick column.... This facial expression could have won an "Emmy award"! It is hard to believe that a 2 yr old can be such an actress...
After talking... Ella decided she was glad to be @ school.
Ella became so excited that she led me to the door..... almost knocking herself over.
As soon as we enter the room.... where does Ella go? Straight to the rocking chair.... what does she begin to say? "Daddy rock.." At this moment the teacher is saying to me... "She is wanting daddy to rock".... I feeling like a dork..... once again.... for the 6th time.... rock in the chair! All for my little girl!
As I was leaving Ella was intrigued with a new toy in the room... some type of shopping cart that sings food songs.

The Boots

A decade ago a song came out entitle "Who's bed has your boots been under?".... That song has taken on a new meaning over the past few weeks. Ella has been under our bed, in our closet and falling throughout the house with her new favorite attire... Chrissy's black boots! Seeing her in the boots is quite a comical sight. Shania Twain would be so proud to see Ella strutting in her mama's boots!

Early Morning Photoshoot

A few weeks ago, Chrissy had a women's breakfast on Saturday morning. Chrissy took Hudson with her. While she was at her breakfast Ella and I had a date at Cracker Barrel. Ella enjoyed the following things during the date: 1. the attention of her daddy, 2. the biscuits and jelly, 3. the rocking chairs, 4. the deer head hanging on the wall. (FYI: Ella is obsessed with the deer head! She has to get this from her Papa Skelton...Chrissy and I surely don't see the need for a deer head.)

After our yummy breakfast Ella wanted to go and see the fountain at the office park across the street. These photos are from our early morning adventure....

Ella's first Birthday party

Ella attended her first offical big girl birthday party. Ella has a friend named Parker that attends our church. Parker had his 2nd birthday party @ Gymboree Play Place. Ella loved Gymboree's wonderful world of creative equipment for preschoolers. As you can see in these photos Ella loves Parker.... more than that... Ella loves cake! The term "party" has taken on a new meaning for Ella.

Ella's First Day of School

Ella has officially began her school adventure.... Last week she start preschool @ Briarwood Presbyterian Church. We love her teachers Ms. Susan and Ms. Jan. Ella has 7 other children in her class. She comes home each day talking about some kids named Molly, Noah and Jeb. Each morning as we drop Ella off, her daily ritual is having me to rock in the teacher's rocking chair beside her. Who can believe that Ella is about to be 2 years old.... time is flying.

Say cheese Hudson... you have 2 new teeth!

While on vacation @ Rosemary beach Hudson got his first 2 teeth! YES that is right.. not 1 tooth but 2 teeth! These two new additions to his face make his smile even brighter!

Ella's new rain boots

A few months back Chrissy and I bought Ella a new rain coat and rain boots. Yesterday Ella found the boots in her room and decided to put them on. Just so happens that yesterday it was raining... Ella was in heaven as she tried out her new attire. She thought jumping in puddles was the most wonderful thing in the world. Following her puddle jumping... we went to Chick-Fil-A. Ella got everyone's attention with her rain gear.... especially when she would not take off her rain coat to eat!

So as one should guess... this morning we woke-up and what did Ella want to wear? Those rain boots... except there is one problem... it is not raining today. So here we are with our little Ella in rain boots on a bright sunny day.

Rosemary Beach 2008

It is hard to believe that it has been most a year since Chrissy and I have taken a vacation. This year we followed our new tradition of going to Rosemary Beach, Florida. We love Rosemary! We not only had a new addition to our family for this vacation.... our little Hudson.... we also had The Abernathy's join us. Jason and Becky are two of our closest friends here in Birmingham. Becky and I have been friends since college... she is the children's photographer who has taken the wonderful photos of our kids. Jason and I have become really great friends. We workout @ lunch together 3 to 4 times a week. The Abernathy's have a little girl named Ava. Ava is 2 months older than Hudson. Realizing that our vacation would not be a vacation without some type of help with our children.... we asked Chrissy's mom Gloria to come with us. Jason's mom Judy came along to assist them with Ava. We had a wonderful time together. One of the highlights of the trip was the nightly double dates that Jason and I could have with our wives. While the grandmother's watched the kid's during naps and bedtimes we were able to enjoy spending time together as couples.

We were able to ride our bikes to places like the market, shopping areas, coffee shops and even awesome dessert shops!

Rosemary is the perfect place to have a true since of coastal living.... just riding a bike everywhere.

While the kid's were awake...much of our coast living was spent riding a golf cart. All three kids.. especially Ella.... loved the golf cart.

Two awesome wives... and wonderful mothers!

One Day @ the Beach

One day @ the beach was all we could do. We went to the beach on our first day.... after day one... the beach was only a memory. Ella loved the beach on Sunday.... then was scared to death of it on Monday. So our time at the beach was great... but limited to a meer three hours. The rest of the week as life @ the pool.